LOCATION DUCKHILL                NV

Established Series
Rev. WED/GAM
01/2023

DUCKHILL SERIES

The Duckhill series consists of very shallow, well drained soils that formed in residuum from altered andesite. Duckhill soils are on mountains. The mean annual precipitation is about 460 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 7 degrees C. Slopes are 30 to 50 percent.

TAXONOMIC CLASS: Loamy-skeletal, mixed, superactive, frigid, shallow Ultic Haploxeralfs

TYPICAL PEDON: Duckhill very gravelly loam, forested. (Colors are for dry soil unless otherwise noted.)

Oi--0 to 2 cm; pine needle duff.

A1--2 to 11 cm; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) very gravelly loam, dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and slightly plastic; very few fine and medium roots; many fine and very fine interstitial pores; 35 percent gravel, 1 percent stones, 5 percent cobbles; moderately acid (pH 5.6); clear smooth boundary. (5 to 10 cm thick)

Bt1--11 to 18 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly heavy loam, brown (10YR 4/3) moist; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; soft, very friable, slightly sticky and slightly plastic; common fine and medium roots; common fine tubular pores; many very fine interstitial pores; common faint clay films on faces of peds and lining pores; 30 percent gravel, l0 percent cobbles; moderately acid (pH 5.6); clear wavy boundary. (5 to 20 cm thick)

Bt2--18 to 26 cm; yellowish brown (10YR 5/4) very gravelly light clay loam, brown (7.5YR 4/4) moist; massive, soft, friable, moderately sticky and slightly plastic; common fine, and few medium roots; common fine tubular pores; common distinct clay films in pores, and coating gravel and mineral grains; 50 percent angular gravel; moderately acid (pH 5.6); abrupt irregular boundary. (5 to 10 cm thick)

Cr--26 to 34 cm; highly weathered altered andesite with a few medium roots and distinct clay films in the fractures. Some soil in the larger cracks. (2 to 10 cm thick)

R--34 cm; hard altered andesite that is fractured.

TYPE LOCATION: Washoe County, Nevada; about l,800 feet east and 700 feet south of the northwest corner of section 4, T. 18 N., R. 19 E.; USGS Mount Rose NE 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle; latitude 39 degrees 27 minutes 34 seconds N and longitude 119 degrees 51 minutes 23 seconds W; WGS84 Decimal Degrees 39.4594444 latitude, -119.8563889 longitude.

RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS:
Soil moisture: Usually moist, but are dry for more than 60 consecutive days during most years mainly during summer and early autumn. Xeric moisture regime.
Mean annual soils temperature: The mean annual soil temperature immediately above bedrock ranges from 7.2 to 8.3 degrees C.
Soil reaction: Moderately acid or slightly acid.
Depth to bedrock: Depth to weathered rock ranges from 18 to 25 cm and to hard rock from 25 to 38 cm.

Particle-size control section - From the soil surface to the paralithic contact averages very gravelly loam with 35 to 45 percent gravel, 5 to 15 percent cobbles, and less than 1 percent stones.

A horizon
Hue of 10YR or 7.5YR
Value of 4 or 5 dry, and 2 or 3 moist.

Bt horizons
Hue of 10YR or 7.5YR
Value of 5 or 6 dry, 4 or 5 moist
Chroma of 3 or 4.
Testures areloam or light clay loam modified by 40 to 60 percent rock fragments.

COMPETING SERIES: This is the Fraval series in another family. Fraval soils have a mollic epipedon and a paralithic contact at depths of 50 to 100 cm.

GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Duckhill soils are on mountains at elevations of 1,740 feet to 2,135 feet. Slopes are 30 to 50 percent. These soils formed in residuum weathered from altered andesite. Mean annual precipitation ranges from about 360 to 640 mm. Mean annual temperature ranges from about 6 to 7 degrees C., mean January temperature is about -1 degrees C., and mean July temperature is about 18.3 degrees C.

GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Jumbo and the competing Fraval soils. Jumbo soils have a thick mollic epipedon and are more than 100 cm deep.

DRAINAGE AND SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY: Well-drained; moderate permeability; moderately high saturated hydraulic conductivity

USE AND VEGETATION: Duckhill soils are used primarily for wildlife habitat and for watershed. The vegetation is principally a sparse stand of Ponderosa pine and sugar pine with an understory of squirreltail. There is some big sagebrush and bitterbrush on disturbed areas at lower elevations.

DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southwestern Nevada along the eastern front of the Carson Range. The series is of small extent. MLRA 22A.

MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Davis, California

SERIES ESTABLISHED: Washoe County (South Part), Nevada, 1980.

REMARKS: Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
Ochric epipedon - The zone from 2 to 11 cm (A horizon).
Argillic horizon - The zone from 11 to 26 cm (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).
Paralithic horizon - The zone from 26 to 34 cm (Cr horizon).
Lithic contact - The boundary at 34 cm (R horizon).
Particle-size control section - The zone from 2 to 26 cm (A, Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).

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National Cooperative Soil Survey
U.S.A.